BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing

GBSS12.0
Feature Parameter Description

Issue 01

Date 2010-06-30

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing Contents

Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................1-1
1.1 Scope ............................................................................................................................................ 1-1
1.2 Intended Audience ........................................................................................................................ 1-1
1.3 Change History.............................................................................................................................. 1-1

2 Overview .....................................................................................................................................2-1
3 Technical Principles .................................................................................................................3-1
4 Engineering Guidelines...........................................................................................................4-1
5 Parameters .................................................................................................................................5-1
6 Counters ......................................................................................................................................6-1
7 Glossary ......................................................................................................................................7-1
8 Reference Documents .............................................................................................................8-1

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 1 Introduction

1 Introduction
1.1 Scope
This document describes BCCH dense frequency multiplexing of Huawei GBSS, which is also known as
tight BCCH. It covers the function of and mechanism regarding BCCH dense frequency multiplexing,
including tight BCCH common channel assignment, tight BCCH handover algorithm, and channel
assignment for tight BCCH handover.
The feature involved is GBFD-118001 BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing.

1.2 Intended Audience

It is assumed that users of this document are familiar with GSM basics and have a working knowledge of
GSM telecommunication.
This document is intended for:
 Personnel working on Huawei GSM products or systems
 System operators who need a general understanding of this feature

1.3 Change History

The change history provides information on the changes in different document versions.
There are two types of changes, which are defined as follows:
 Feature change
Feature change refers to the change in the BCCH dense frequency multiplexing feature of a specific
product version.
 Editorial change
Editorial change refers to the change in wording or the addition of the information that was not
described in the earlier version.

Document Issues
The document issues are as follows:
 01 (2010-06-30)
 Draft (2010-03-30)

01 (2010-06-30)
This is the first release of GBSS12.0.
Compared with issue Draft (2010-03-30) of GBSS12.0, issue 01 (2010-06-30) of GBSS12.0 incorporates
the changes described in the following table.

Change Type Change Description Parameter Change

Feature change None None

Editorial change Parameters are presented in the form of Parameter ID instead None
of Parameter Name.

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 1 Introduction

Draft (2010-03-30)
This is the draft release of GBSS12.0.
.

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 2 Overview

2 Overview
In a network where the frequency resources are limited, relatively few frequencies at the FH layer are a
capacity bottleneck. Increasing the number of frequencies at the FH layer can improve the system
capacity.
In general, the frequencies planned for a network include BCCH frequencies and TCH frequencies.
BCCH frequencies and TCH frequencies adopt different multiplexing modes. For example, the BCCH
frequencies are multiplexed in 4x3 mode, while the TCH frequencies are multiplexed in 1x3 mode. In a
network whose frequencies are limited, if the BCCH uses more frequencies, fewer frequencies are
available for the TCHs, and thus the system capacity is smaller.
BCCH dense frequency multiplexing enables the BCCHs to reuse frequencies more tightly to free more
frequencies for non-BCCH TRXs, thus increasing the system capacity.
The BCCH dense frequency multiplexing technology is applicable to the network with limited frequency
resources. It helps to increase the reusability of BCCH frequencies and reduce the number of
frequencies used by the BCCHs. Therefore, more frequencies can be used at the FH layer.
BCCH dense frequency multiplexing has the following advantages:
 Reduces the number of frequencies occupied by the BCCHs, and improves the spectrum utilization
 Increases the number of frequencies available for TCHs and for FH, expands the system capacity
without adding new hardware, and saves the costs of adding sites and cells
 Assigns the TCHs on BCCH frequencies to only the MSs near the BTS, thus improving the voice
quality because of less uplink interference
 Reduces random access failures, and improves the access performance

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 3 Technical Principles

3 Technical Principles
Tight BCCH Common Channel Assignment
When BCCH dense frequency multiplexing is adopted, a cell is classified into different logical layers:
TCH layer on the BCCH TRX and FH layer, as shown in Figure 3-1.
 The FH layer serves and covers the entire network, including cell edges.
 The TCH layer on the BCCH frequency, however, covers only the MSs near the BTS to guarantee call
access and to reduce interference near the BTS.
Figure 3-1 Logical layers of BCCH dense frequency multiplexing

BCCH
Frequency
coverage area

Limit to move
Limit to move to to BCCH
hopping layer

Call moved to hopping

layer if the quality
degrades too much

A denser frequency multiplexing pattern tends to increase the interference on the BCCH, therefore,
proper channel allocation and handover algorithms are required to allocate the TCHs on the BCCH TRX
to the MSs near the BTS. In this way, the restriction of multiplexing density on the BCCH TRX is reduced.
The BCCH dense frequency multiplexing consists of:
 Tight BCCH common channel assignment
 Tight BCCH handover algorithm
 Channel assignment for tight BCCH handover
During an initial access request or a non-tight BCCH handover, if TIGHTBCCHSWITCH is set to Yes, a
TCH is assigned according to the following principles:
 If a TCH on non-BCCH TRXs is available, the TCH is preferentially assigned to ensure access
performance.
 If all the TCHs on non-BCCH TRXs are occupied, the TCH on the BCCH frequency is assigned.
During the assignment, the TCHs on the BCCH TRX are preferentially assigned if the call meets the
following conditions:
 The uplink receive level is greater than TIGHTBCCHASSMAINBCCHLEV.

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 3 Technical Principles

 The uplink receive quality is smaller than TIGHTBCCHASSMAINBCCHQUAL.

 The load on the non-BCCH TRXs in the cell is higher than TIGHTBCCHHOLOADTHRES.

Tight BCCH Handover Algorithm

When all the TCHs on non-BCCH frequencies are occupied, the signal quality of an MS on the cell edge
decreases if the TCH on the BCCH frequency is assigned to the MS. Therefore, if the load on the
non-BCCH TRXs exceeds TIGHTBCCHHOLOADTHRES, the MS that is away from the cell edge and
whose signal quality is smaller than TIGHTBCCHRXQUALTHRES is handed over to the TCH on the
BCCH TRX. Thus, the TCHs on the non-BCCH TRX are reserved to ensure the call access
performance.
The principle of tight BCCH handover algorithm is as follows: During the period specified by
TIGHTBCCHHOSTATTIME, if the period when tight BCCH handover conditions are met exceeds
TIGHTBCCHHOLASTTIME, a handover is initiated. Otherwise, no handover is initiated.

Channel Assignment for Tight BCCH Handover

The purpose of tight BCCH handover is to hand over a call near the BTS to the BCCH TRX. Therefore, if
the cause of a handover is tight BCCH handover, a TCH on the BCCH TRX is assigned.

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 4 Engineering Guidelines

4 Engineering Guidelines
Recommended Scenarios
In general, the 4x3 mode is used in BCCH frequency planning to guarantee high carrier-to-interference
ratios (CIRs) between BCCH frequencies. In this mode, the BCCHs occupy 12 frequencies, thus
decreasing the number of frequencies available for frequency hopping. In a network where the
frequency resources are limited, the number of frequencies available for frequency hopping is a critical
capacity factor.
No anti-interference technology such as FH is used on BCCH frequencies. Therefore, if the 3x3 mode is
used in BCCH frequency planning, the TCHs on BCCH frequencies have low interference resistance,
and the interference in the system is increased. But if a denser frequency multiplexing mode is adopted,
the performance of TCHs may decrease badly to an unacceptable level.
Enabling BCCH dense frequency multiplexing on the BSC can solve the above problems.

Impact on Other Features

The impact of BCCH dense frequency multiplexing on other features is as follows:
 Concentric cells do not support dense BCCH frequency multiplexing.
 Multiband networks do not support dense BCCH frequency multiplexing.

Impact on System Performance

If the load of a cell increases, an MS served by a channel on the non-BCCH TRX may be handed over to
a channel on the BCCH TRX, thus increasing the number of handovers in the network.

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 5 Parameters

5 Parameters
Table 5-1 Parameter description
Parameter ID NE MML Description
TIGHTBCCHSWIT BSC6900 SET Meaning: Whether to enable the BCCH
CH GCELLCHMGBASIC(Opti aggressive frequency reuse algorithm
onal)
GUI Value Range: OFF(Off), ON(On)
Actual Value Range: OFF, ON
Unit: None
Default Value: OFF
TIGHTBCCHASSM BSC6900 SET Meaning: During channel assignment, the
AINBCCHLEV GCELLCHMGAD(Optiona assignment of channels on the BCCH TRXs
l) depends on the uplink receive level, quality,
and non-BCCH load. The TCHs are
preferentially assigned on the BCCH TRXs if
the following conditions are met:
1. The uplink receive level after filtering is
higher than "Level Thresh. for Assigning Main
BCCH Carrier Channel Under TIGHT BCCH".
2. The uplink receive quality level after filtering
is lower than "Quality Thresh. for Assigning
Main BCCH Carrier Channel Under TIGHT
BCCH".
3. The non-BCCH load is higher than "Intracell
Non Main BCCH Load Threshold of TIGHT
BCCH".

GUI Value Range: 0~63

Actual Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 30
TIGHTBCCHASSM BSC6900 SET Meaning: During channel assignment, the
AINBCCHQUAL GCELLCHMGAD(Optiona assignment of channels on the BCCH TRXs
l) depends on the uplink receive level, quality,
and non-BCCH load. The TCHs are
preferentially assigned on the BCCH TRXs if
the following conditions are met:
1. The uplink receive level after filtering is
higher than "Level Thresh. for Assigning Main
BCCH Carrier Channel Under TIGHT BCCH".
2. The uplink receive quality level after filtering
is lower than "Quality Thresh. for Assigning
Main BCCH Carrier Channel Under TIGHT
BCCH".
3. The non-BCCH load is higher than "Intracell
Non Main BCCH Load Threshold of TIGHT
BCCH".

GUI Value Range: 0~7

Actual Value Range: 0~7
Unit: None

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BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 5 Parameters

Parameter ID NE MML Description

Default Value: 1

TIGHTBCCHHOLO BSC6900 SET Meaning: During channel assignment, the

ADTHRES GCELLHOAD(Optional) assignment of channels on the BCCH TRXs
depends on the uplink receive level, quality,
and non-BCCH load. The TCHs are
preferentially assigned on the BCCH TRXs if
the following conditions are met:
1. The uplink receive level after filtering is
higher than "Level Thresh. for Assigning Main
BCCH Carrier Channel Under TIGHT BCCH".
2. The uplink receive quality level after filtering
is lower than "Quality Thresh. for Assigning
Main BCCH Carrier Channel Under TIGHT
BCCH".
3. The non-BCCH load is higher than "Intracell
Non Main BCCH Load Threshold of TIGHT
BCCH".

GUI Value Range: 0~100

Actual Value Range: 0~100
Unit: %
Default Value: 80
TIGHTBCCHRXQU BSC6900 SET Meaning: When an intra-cell TIGHT BCCH
ALTHRES GCELLHOAD(Optional) handover needs to be performed (handover
from the non-BCCH to BCCH), the downlink
receive quality must be smaller than the value
of this parameter.

GUI Value Range: 0~7

Actual Value Range: 0~7
Unit: None
Default Value: 3
TIGHTBCCHHOST BSC6900 SET Meaning: The P/N criterion must be met for
ATTIME GCELLHOBASIC(Optiona triggering a TIGHTBCCH handover. That is,
l) the TIGHTBCCH handover can be triggered
only if P seconds among N seconds meet the
triggering conditions. This parameter
corresponds to N in the P/N criterion.

GUI Value Range: 1~32

Actual Value Range: 0.5~16, step:0.5
Unit: s
Default Value: 6

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BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 5 Parameters

Parameter ID NE MML Description

TIGHTBCCHHOLA BSC6900 SET Meaning: The P/N criterion must be met for
STTIME GCELLHOBASIC(Optiona triggering a TIGHT BCCH handover. That is,
l) the TIGHT BCCH handover can be triggered
only if P seconds among N seconds meet the
triggering conditions. This parameter
corresponds to P in the P/N criterion.

GUI Value Range: 1~32

Actual Value Range: 0.5~16, step:0.5
Unit: s
Default Value: 4

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 6 Counters

6 Counters
For the counters, see the BSC6900 GSM Performance Counter Reference.

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 7 Glossary

7 Glossary
For the acronyms, abbreviations, terms, and definitions, see the Glossary.

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 GSM BSS
BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing 8 Reference Documents

8 Reference Documents
[1] BSC6900 Feature List
[2] BSC6900 Optional Feature Description
[3] GBSS Reconfiguration Guide
[4] BSC6900 GSM Parameter Reference
[5] BSC6900 GSM MML Command Reference
[6] BSC6900 GSM Performance Counter Reference

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